Last-minute voter registrations in

ACORN turns in cards;group probed in other states for alleged fraud.

ACORN turns in cards;group probed in other states for alleged fraud.

October 10, 2008|By NANCY J. SULOK Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Just before the deadline Monday afternoon, someone dropped off two boxes of voter registration cards at the St. Joseph County Voter Registration office. The boxes contained hundreds of forms collected by a group known as ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN reportedly is under investigation in several states for allegedly submitting fraudulent voter registrations. Linda Silcott, Republican member of the local Voter Registration Board, said the staff has not had the time to go through ACORN's forms or to validate them. They were submitted on the last day to register before the Nov. 4 election. ACORN is a nonpartisan group that works to recruit low-income voters, who tend to lean Democratic. According to its national Web site, the group has registered 1.3 million people nationwide for the general election. "I'm being made aware of instances of voter registration fraud by ACORN and others, from all corners of the state and across the country,'' Secretary of State Todd Rokita said Thursday in a news release. "I take these very seriously.'' Thumbing through the stack in her office, Silcott spotted some forms that didn't appear to be filled out correctly. In one, for example, the person registering failed to print his name in the appropriate box. The form was signed, but the signature was difficult to read. On another form, a question about citizenship was left unanswered. Some of the forms were dated months ago but not turned in until Monday. Problems officials have found in other states have included false or fraudulent names. The Detroit Free Press reported last month that the organization was the subject of numerous complaints of voter fraud and duplicate registrations by municipal clerks across the state. Some of the forms appeared to have made-up names, Kelly Chesney, spokesperson for the Michigan secretary of state, told the Free Press. Federal officials raided ACORN's office in Las Vegas earlier this week and seized records and computers, according to Fox News. The news report quoted Bob Walsh, a spokesman for the Nevada secretary of state, as saying, "Some of them used nonexistent names, some of them used false addresses, and some of them were duplicates of previously filed applications.'' The allegedly fraudulent registrations included names of the starting lineup for the Dallas Cowboys, Secretary of State Ross Miller told Fox. Silcott said she heard ACORN was paying people to go out and register voters, then paying for each registration they brought in. That's a system ripe for fraud. A statement posted Wednesday on ACORN's Web site denies the allegation. "Canvassers are hired to work set shift hours," it states, "and are paid based on the number of shifts they work, not on the number of applications they collect." According to the Web site, ACORN has Indiana offices in Indianapolis and Gary. The Gary telephone was answered by a machine, and a message left was not returned. In Indianapolis, a message was left for an official of the organization, but that was not returned either. ACORN also has Michigan offices in Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Saginaw. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Staff writer Nancy J. Sulok: nsulok@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6234